Trenton Acupuncture Brings Traditional Chinese Medicine To Dade

By LYDIA BERGLAR
News Editor

Tired of countless doctor’s appointments and medical tests that didn’t lead to answers or healing, Matt Kirsch eventually found that acupuncture helped his body heal, and this sparked an interest in what would become his career. Today, Kirsch practices in both Chattanooga and in Trenton, and his Trenton Acupuncture office is located inside Dade County Chiropractic Center.

Acupuncture is part of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), although it is also part of other countries’ and cultures’ practices. It is generally classified as a form of alternative medicine.

According to the John Hopkins Medicine website, “TCM believes that the body’s vital energy, called qi (pronounced chi), flows along specific channels or meridians. If the qi is balanced then the person has spiritual, emotional, and physical health. But when the qi isn’t in balance, disease may occur. Qi can be blocked, causing unbalance between the yin and yang.”

The site explains that acupuncture believes there are over 2,000 points on the body that are connected by the meridians, and therefore, “The use of acupuncture on certain points within the meridians is believed to improve the flow of blocked or stagnant qi…The actual practice of acupuncture includes placing thin needles into the skin on certain points of a meridian. These are then activated by the provider’s hands or through electrical stimulation. Studies have shown that acupuncture works well for many conditions.”

In his own words, Kirsch said, “It’s an almost painless pinch to elicit a response that asks the brain to do something different than it’s been doing, to perform a function better than it has been doing it.”

He used the metaphor of Grand Central Station to describe the central nervous system: The  station represents the brain and spinal cord and trains represent the meridians. Each acupuncture point is a station along the route.

Kirsh said the needles can cause two sensations. One he described as a short flash of electricity, like the feeling when standstill traffic finally clears and you speed away with a sigh of relief. “When you feel that flash of electricity,” he said, “it’s something that was occluding the space being moved so the energy gets a chance to flash through. Usually, the person feels much cooler after.”

The other sensation is like a dull aching throb underneath the needle. Kirsch said, “That usually happens when a place is deficient and not receiving as much circulation as it needs. It feels like something’s building and the body is getting what it needs.”

During an acupuncture session, patients often enter a state between sleeping and waking. Kirsch said, “One way to say it is that the parasympathetic nervous system has now come back on, which is ‘rest and digest,’ rather than the sympathetic nervous system, which is ‘fight or flight.’ The parasympathetic is where healing happens.”

Kirsch explained that in TCM, “All pain is a form of stagnation. Either energy or blood isn’t moving well or something is causing obstruction.”

Kirsch has seen acupuncture reduce patients’ reliance on other medications. He recommends acupuncture for pain, internal medicine, general wellness, life transitions, and emotional issues, saying, “Anything internal medicine-wise can benefit from it. Some people come in for general wellness sessions because they like the way acupuncture helps them destress and decompress.”

While acupuncture can’t help with many orthopedic problems, Kirsch believes it can assist the body’s ability to heal. For example, a torn rotator cuff can’t be fixed by acupuncture, but he said, “Acupuncture helps nourishment happen which helps the healing process.”

As a teenager growing up in New York City, Kirsch experienced what it was like to see doctor after doctor and not get the desired healing. He recalled, “My body kind of shut down on me when I was 15 years old. I got incredibly sick and saw about eight doctors that year, but got no help.”

He noted that he is not against doctors and believes medical professionals are trying to help people, but he grew tired of being poked, prodded, and put through test after test without finding any answers. While exploring alternative treatments and therapies, he found that acupuncture helped him.

Kirsch said, “Acupuncture didn’t heal me fully, but it made me better. What I love about it is you can treat based on what you see a person going through as opposed to waiting for test results. I was in danger of a heart attack because my electrolytes were so low, but the doctors could not figure out through lab tests and imaging work why things were happening in my body the way they were. The beauty of acupuncture is that it observes cycles of nature, looking at what is working great and what could work better.”

After high school, he planned to become a physical therapist but soon switched to acupuncture, attending the Academy of Oriental Medicine in Austin, Texas. He practiced in Austin for about 20 years and watched as the city grew.

Kirsch lamented, “I used to be able to go anywhere in ten minutes. There were a lot of mom and pop places I enjoyed. It grew to become very corporate with lots of traffic and none of the outdoor activities I enjoyed. I kept having this feeling that I was withering.”

Around the time of COVID-19, he sold his house and considered where he wanted to live. A gift from a friend to go hang gliding at the Lookout Mountain Flight Park brought him to Dade County where he eventually bought a home.

He officially opened Trenton Acupuncture two years ago, and he said it’s been well received. While there are multiple acupuncturists in Austin and Chattanooga, Kirsch is the only one in our area. He has some patients who drive from an hour away to receive treatment.

Not wanting money to be an issue for his patients and with acupuncture not covered by insurance, Kirsch has a donation-based offering. His regular rates give patients a ballpark of what they should pay, but he has some patients who cannot pay that rate and others who gladly pay well above the regular rate. He said, “I still control how often I see people, but the pain of affording care should not add to the pain that you’re in.”

Many people are skeptical of acupuncture, so Kirsch tells skeptics to try a session and see what they think, noting that he’s seen many people change their minds once treated. He said some people turn to acupuncture as a last resort, not unlike his experience as a teenager. The first session regular rate is $80, and future sessions are $125. He said, “By taking away the financial question, there’s an invitation. Acupuncture does not need you to believe in it for it to work.”

To learn more about Trenton Acupuncture, visit kirschmethod.com, call 512-299-2924, or email Kirsch at healthymatt1122@gmail.com.